BEATRICE

SYNTHESIS: A fused sample of 5.0 g of white, crystalline free base 2,5-dimethoxy-4-methylamphetamine, DOM, was treated with 10 mL ethyl formate, and held at reflux on the steam bath for several h. Removal of the solvent gave 5.5 g of a white solid, which could be recrystallized from 15 mL MeOH to give 3.8 g of fine white crystals of 2,5-dimethoxy-N-formyl-4-methylamphetamine. An analytical sample from ethyl formate gave granular white crystals.

To a stirred suspension of 4.0 g LAH in 250 mL anhydrous Et2O at reflux and under an inert atmosphere, there was added, by the shunted Soxhlet technique, 4.2 g of 2,5-dimethoxy-N-formyl-4-methylamphetamine as rapidly as its solubility in hot Et2O would allow. The mixture was held at reflux for 24 h and then stirred at room temperature for several additional days. The excess hydride was destroyed with the addition of dilute H2SO4 (20 g in 500 mL water) followed by the additional dilute H2SO4 needed to effect a clear solution. The Et2O was separated, and the aqueous phase extracted with 100 mL Et2O and then with 2×250 mL CH2Cl2. Following the addition of 100 g potassium sodium tartrate, the mixture was made basic with 25% NaOH. The clear aqueous phase was extracted with 3×250 mL CH2Cl2 These extracts were pooled, and the solvent removed under vacuum. The residual amber oil was dissolved in 400 mL anhydrous Et2O, and saturated with hydrogen chloride gas. The white crystals that formed were removed by filtration, washed with Et2O, and air dried to constant weight. There was obtained 4.2 g of product with a mp of 131.5-133.5 °C. This product was recrys-tallized from 175 mL boiling ethyl acetate to give 3.5 g 2,5-dimethoxy-4,N-di-methylamphetamine hydrochloride (BEATRICE) as pale pink crystals with a mp of 136-137 °C. A sample obtained from a preparation that employed the methyl sulfate methylation of the benzaldehyde adduct of DOM had a mp of 125-126 °C and presented a different infra-red spectrum. It was, following recrystallization from ethyl acetate, identical to the higher melting form in all respects.

DOSAGE: above 30 mg.

DURATION: 6 – 10 h.

QUALITATIVE COMMENTS: (with 20 mg) There was a gentle and demanding rise from the one to the three hour point that put me into an extremely open, erotic, and responsive place. I had to find a familiar spot to orient myself, and the kitchen served that need. As the experience went on, it showed more and more of a stimulant response, with tremor, restlessness, and a bit of trouble sleeping. But there was no anorexia! An OK experience.

(with 30 mg) There is a real physical aspect to this, and I am not completely happy with it. There is diarrhea, and I am restless, and continuously aware of the fact that my body has had an impact from something. The last few hours were spent in talking, and I found myself still awake some 24 hours after the start of the experiment. The mental was not up there to a +++, and yet the physical disruption was all that I might care to weather, and exceeds any mental reward. When I did sleep, my dreams were OK, but not rich. Why go higher?

EXTENSIONS AND COMMENTARY: This is another example of the N-methyl homologues of the psychedelics. None of them seem to produce stuff of elegance. It is clear that the adding of an N-methyl group onto DOM certainly cuts down the activity by a factor of ten-fold, and even then results in something that is not completely good. Three milligrams of DOM is a winner, but even ten times this, thirty milligrams of N-methyl-DOM, is somewhat fuzzy. In the rabbit hyperthermia studies, this compound was some 25 times less active than DOM, so even animal tests say this is way down there in value. This particular measure suggests that the active level in man might be 75 milligrams. Well, maybe, but I am not at all comfortable in trying it at that level. In fact I do not intend to explore this any further whatsoever, unless there is a compelling reason, and I see no such reason. For the moment, let us leave this one to others, who might be more adventurous but less discriminating.

In browsing through my notes I discovered that I had made another N-substitution product of DOM. Efforts to fuse free-base DOM with the ethyl cyclopropane carboxylate failed, but the reaction between it and the acid chloride in pyridine gave the corresponding amide, with a mp of 156-157 °C from MeOH. Anal. (C16H23NO3) C,H,N. This reduced smoothly to the corresponding amine, N-cyclopropyl-2,5-dimethoxy-4-methylamphetamine which formed a hydrochloride salt melting at 153-156 °C. I can’t remember the reasoning that led to this line of synthesis, but it must not have been too exciting, as I never tasted the stuff.